Case in point: In recent interviews with Carlos Boughton, brand director, Tecate Equity for Heineken USA, and Chris McGrath, senior director, Latina cohorts for Kraft Foods North America, each expressed very similar thoughts regarding key principles for success — although their target audiences are quite different.

Not surprisingly, key principle #1 is developing a deep understanding of the lifestyles and primary motivators of the Hispanic consumer prospect segments or universes for specific product categories /brands. Both Tecate and Kraft of course engage in extensive, in-house consumer research, as well as sharing knowledge with other major marketer companies that participate in the Latinum Hispanic marketing business network.

However, both Boughton and McGrath stress that research is a means to that end of truly understanding the consumer groups in order to establish a clear, relevant, overarching identity that guides all marketing messages.

As a major brand that is not only marketed exclusively to Hispanics, but specifically to male Hispanic immigrants of Mexican origin, Tecate is somewhat unusual. However, Boughton stresses that brands casting a wider net must also gain segment-specific understanding to uncover core, shared values and priorities that enable relevant, overarching ideas and themes.

In Tecate’s case, the overarching target audience values center on masculinity and character (“carácter” in Spanish) — pride in working hard, being stoic and doing what’s necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of providing for the family’s needs and supporting the community. “Our message is ‘men behaving like men,’ and celebrating the character it takes to do the very difficult things they do day in and day out,” sums up Boughton. “Everything we do is aligned with that.”

Like its recent, award-winning “Disclaimer” radio ad (which used a long ‘disclaimer’ to define which types of men should not drink Tecate, including those who have dogs named Puchi, Tinkerbell or Princess), Tecate’s brand-new “Anthem 3” campaign zeroes in on these themes — as do all of the brand’s marketing efforts, including its extensive sponsorships of boxing events and televised matches, points out Boughton.

Kraft’s focus is on understanding its audience of Latina moms, the primary family food-purchasing and menu decision-makers. “Because we understand her needs in depth, and can offer relevant messages and solutions, we have forged strong connections” with these moms, says McGrath, both through cross-brand channels such as Kraft’s Comida y Familia (food and family) magazine/Web site and marketing for specific brands.

Like all moms, Latina moms are focused on food quality and value, and those messages are obviously key in outreach for Kraft brands for which this market is a key to growth, such as Kraft Singles and Kool-Aid.

Intensive consumer research recently led, for example, to an integrated Kraft Singles campaign for the Hispanic market geared not to usage videos/recipes, but to stressing that the brand is made with milk — not oil and water — in line with Latina moms’ emphasis on serving whole foods and made-from-scratch meals to their families. The campaign has been very successful because it strikes a cultural chord, reports McGrath — adding that in this case, the message, which was some years back a core one for general-market efforts, might also prove valuable for “infusing back” into the general market.

Latina moms also have a strong desire to “keep their cultural roots alive for their children,” and take pride in adding culturally specific “touches and twists” to meals — “even something as all-American as mac and cheese,” notes McGrath. Comida y Familia’s recipes and suggestions reflect this, as do brand-specific efforts.

For some brands– like Kool-Aid, focused on the universal fun-appeal/value of the product for families with young children — the approach is in a sense “one marketplace, two languages,” but that’s possible because of attention to “integrity” and nuance in conveying the mutually relevant theme within tailored messaging to the Latina market, stresses McGrath. “We do try to fuse brand identity as much as possible in English and Spanish versions, but we never lose sight of meaning and relevance to the audience,” she says.

Indeed, like Boughton (all of Tecate’s Hispanic marketing efforts are also Spanish-language, with the exception of a few components for Tecate Light), McGrath points to straight translations of general-market messaging as one of the most ineffective approaches when it comes to Hispanic marketing.

Often, Hispanic marketing is viewed as just a “line item” within a brand or company budget, and the misguided approach of “taking the English version and running it through the Google translator” results, says Boughton. But even when investment in Hispanic marketing is limited, marketers can do far better than this by immersing themselves in the cultures and daily lives of a brand’s users/prospects, listening and finding those overarching values and themes, he emphasizes.

Asked where else companies miss the mark when it comes to Hispanic marketing, McGrath cites the primary mistake as “waiting for consumers to assimilate,” rather than actively finding ways to connect meaningfully with them now.

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

By Havi Goffan

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them in its social media marketing strategy.

U.S.-based Hispanic consumers are significantly more likely to participate in online social media than their non-Hispanic counterparts, making a social media strategy a must for any marketer wanting to reach this group online, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc.

The research findings are as follows:

Online Hispanics are more involved and likely to listen to word-of-mouth

69% of 3,000 online Hispanics are Spectators, meaning that they watch, read or listen to what others have created online.

Only 42% of non-Hispanics online are Spectators

Online Hispanics are more active

40% of online Hispanics have the highest level of online activity and are characterized as Creators, meaning that they take part in such online activities as blogging, publishing web pages and uploading audio and video.

Only 12% of non-Hispanics online consumers participate in these activities.

Online Hispanics have a higher level of “Influentials”

77% of online Hispanic adults take part in some sort of online social activity: Forrester characterized this group as influential, reporting that on average 60% tell friends and family about products that interest them.

more than 70% of all Hispanics surveyed said they stay with brands they like, suggesting that marketers who successfully build relationships with them now will have advocates for the long term.

Why are Hispanics more predisposed toward online social networking?

First, Hispanics are customarily early adopters of entertainment technologies, and this corresponds online to the use of video, audio and other related social media technologies such as blogging.

Second, Hispanic culture emphasizes the group over the individual, therefore Hispanic consumers tend to look to others for advice or agreement on product choices.

Third, according to research, “even though many U.S.-born Hispanic consumers prefer to use the Spanish language, many media publishers and marketers in the U.S. don’t offer this option. Social networking provides Hispanics with opportunities to fill that online gap by contributing their own Spanish-language content”, Forrester says.

Hispanics social media marketing strategy – a must

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

What’s the best way to reach the Hispanic consumer? Consider throwing out that TV budget and focusing on in-store media instead. And don’t go out of your way to make your brand look “Hispanic.” Such are the insights of Carlos Boughton, brand director of Tecate and Tecate Light, Heineken USA and Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner at Adrenalina. The two collaborated on a shopping list below for marketers aiming to tap the country’s largest and fastest-growing minority group.

Hispanic Marketing Do’s

HISPANIC SHOPPER MARKETING DO’S

1. Consider the context. Hispanics have been particularly hard-hit by today’s economic crisis so a message designed for the ‘good times’ will feel insincere.

2. Focus on the idea. Let your inspiration lead the media. Design around one great concept that extends equally and powerfully to several mediums instead of trying to match each medium with a laundry list of incomplete thoughts.

3. Shift ad spend from TV to in-store merchandising. The store shelf, where 70 percent of purchasing decisions are made, is the last frontier for swaying purchase behavior. An LCD screen on a shopping cart may be a more direct way to woo Hispanics than the ads on the big screens in their living rooms.

4. Engage the consumer to ‘feel’ the brand. Latinos gravitate to brands they sense feel right. For instance, Tecate leverages boxing as an effective way
to reach Hispanics and as a powerful metaphor for boldness, masculinity and character. Consumers, in turn, make the connection: bold brand = bold product = bold consumer.

Hispanic Marketing Don’t

HISPANIC SHOPPER MARKETING DON’T

1. Rely on a Power Point to know your customer. Data provides invaluable context, trends, and insights. But to get inside the head of “Juan Q. Consumer” spend time outside the office, meeting and talking with brand users. Data is not an effective way to read emotions. Tecate’s platform of
‘character’ came from consumer interaction not from data.

2. Underestimate consumers. With the growth of user-generated content, consumers are more involved than ever in shaping a brand — almost like co-brand managers. In this sense, the right consumer-designed message can boost a brand just as the wrong one can wreak havoc. One consumer designed image that was a take on the Tecate campaign became a minor hit on Facebook.

3. Get mired in cultural relevancy. Streaming papel picado in the store isn’t a shopper marketing strategy. Don’t try making your brand look ‘Hispanic,’ instead focus on delivering a relevant message. At Tecate, we’ve abandoned all obvious references to origin because it doesn’t serve the message we’re trying to convey.

4. Be a brand for all people. Tecate isn’t an Hispanic brand marketing to multicultural groups, our target is Mexican men and we speak from their perspective. Even people who don’t understand the campaign value its genuineness. Often, a pan-Hispanic message will lack bite and authenticity. More people may ‘get it,’ but fewer will care.

Case in point: In recent interviews with Carlos Boughton, brand director, Tecate Equity for Heineken USA, and Chris McGrath, senior director, Latina cohorts for Kraft Foods North America, each expressed very similar thoughts regarding key principles for success — although their target audiences are quite different.

Not surprisingly, key principle #1 is developing a deep understanding of the lifestyles and primary motivators of the Hispanic consumer prospect segments or universes for specific product categories /brands. Both Tecate and Kraft of course engage in extensive, in-house consumer research, as well as sharing knowledge with other major marketer companies that participate in the Latinum Hispanic marketing business network.

However, both Boughton and McGrath stress that research is a means to that end of truly understanding the consumer groups in order to establish a clear, relevant, overarching identity that guides all marketing messages.

As a major brand that is not only marketed exclusively to Hispanics, but specifically to male Hispanic immigrants of Mexican origin, Tecate is somewhat unusual. However, Boughton stresses that brands casting a wider net must also gain segment-specific understanding to uncover core, shared values and priorities that enable relevant, overarching ideas and themes.

In Tecate’s case, the overarching target audience values center on masculinity and character (“carácter” in Spanish) — pride in working hard, being stoic and doing what’s necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of providing for the family’s needs and supporting the community. “Our message is ‘men behaving like men,’ and celebrating the character it takes to do the very difficult things they do day in and day out,” sums up Boughton. “Everything we do is aligned with that.”

Like its recent, award-winning “Disclaimer” radio ad (which used a long ‘disclaimer’ to define which types of men should not drink Tecate, including those who have dogs named Puchi, Tinkerbell or Princess), Tecate’s brand-new “Anthem 3” campaign zeroes in on these themes — as do all of the brand’s marketing efforts, including its extensive sponsorships of boxing events and televised matches, points out Boughton.

Kraft’s focus is on understanding its audience of Latina moms, the primary family food-purchasing and menu decision-makers. “Because we understand her needs in depth, and can offer relevant messages and solutions, we have forged strong connections” with these moms, says McGrath, both through cross-brand channels such as Kraft’s Comida y Familia (food and family) magazine/Web site and marketing for specific brands.

Like all moms, Latina moms are focused on food quality and value, and those messages are obviously key in outreach for Kraft brands for which this market is a key to growth, such as Kraft Singles and Kool-Aid.

Intensive consumer research recently led, for example, to an integrated Kraft Singles campaign for the Hispanic market geared not to usage videos/recipes, but to stressing that the brand is made with milk — not oil and water — in line with Latina moms’ emphasis on serving whole foods and made-from-scratch meals to their families. The campaign has been very successful because it strikes a cultural chord, reports McGrath — adding that in this case, the message, which was some years back a core one for general-market efforts, might also prove valuable for “infusing back” into the general market.

Latina moms also have a strong desire to “keep their cultural roots alive for their children,” and take pride in adding culturally specific “touches and twists” to meals — “even something as all-American as mac and cheese,” notes McGrath. Comida y Familia’s recipes and suggestions reflect this, as do brand-specific efforts.

For some brands– like Kool-Aid, focused on the universal fun-appeal/value of the product for families with young children — the approach is in a sense “one marketplace, two languages,” but that’s possible because of attention to “integrity” and nuance in conveying the mutually relevant theme within tailored messaging to the Latina market, stresses McGrath. “We do try to fuse brand identity as much as possible in English and Spanish versions, but we never lose sight of meaning and relevance to the audience,” she says.

Indeed, like Boughton (all of Tecate’s Hispanic marketing efforts are also Spanish-language, with the exception of a few components for Tecate Light), McGrath points to straight translations of general-market messaging as one of the most ineffective approaches when it comes to Hispanic marketing.

Often, Hispanic marketing is viewed as just a “line item” within a brand or company budget, and the misguided approach of “taking the English version and running it through the Google translator” results, says Boughton. But even when investment in Hispanic marketing is limited, marketers can do far better than this by immersing themselves in the cultures and daily lives of a brand’s users/prospects, listening and finding those overarching values and themes, he emphasizes.

Asked where else companies miss the mark when it comes to Hispanic marketing, McGrath cites the primary mistake as “waiting for consumers to assimilate,” rather than actively finding ways to connect meaningfully with them now.

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

By Havi Goffan

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them in its social media marketing strategy.

U.S.-based Hispanic consumers are significantly more likely to participate in online social media than their non-Hispanic counterparts, making a social media strategy a must for any marketer wanting to reach this group online, according to a new report from Forrester Research Inc.

The research findings are as follows:

Online Hispanics are more involved and likely to listen to word-of-mouth

69% of 3,000 online Hispanics are Spectators, meaning that they watch, read or listen to what others have created online.

Only 42% of non-Hispanics online are Spectators

Online Hispanics are more active

40% of online Hispanics have the highest level of online activity and are characterized as Creators, meaning that they take part in such online activities as blogging, publishing web pages and uploading audio and video.

Only 12% of non-Hispanics online consumers participate in these activities.

Online Hispanics have a higher level of “Influentials”

77% of online Hispanic adults take part in some sort of online social activity: Forrester characterized this group as influential, reporting that on average 60% tell friends and family about products that interest them.

more than 70% of all Hispanics surveyed said they stay with brands they like, suggesting that marketers who successfully build relationships with them now will have advocates for the long term.

Why are Hispanics more predisposed toward online social networking?

First, Hispanics are customarily early adopters of entertainment technologies, and this corresponds online to the use of video, audio and other related social media technologies such as blogging.

Second, Hispanic culture emphasizes the group over the individual, therefore Hispanic consumers tend to look to others for advice or agreement on product choices.

Third, according to research, “even though many U.S.-born Hispanic consumers prefer to use the Spanish language, many media publishers and marketers in the U.S. don’t offer this option. Social networking provides Hispanics with opportunities to fill that online gap by contributing their own Spanish-language content”, Forrester says.

Hispanics social media marketing strategy – a must

Any company that comes in contact with online Hispanic consumers would be negligent not to include them on its social media marketing strategy. The focal point should be the identification of the technologies and social media channels that are a strategic fit.

What’s the best way to reach the Hispanic consumer? Consider throwing out that TV budget and focusing on in-store media instead. And don’t go out of your way to make your brand look “Hispanic.” Such are the insights of Carlos Boughton, brand director of Tecate and Tecate Light, Heineken USA and Manuel Wernicky, president, chief ideas officer and managing partner at Adrenalina. The two collaborated on a shopping list below for marketers aiming to tap the country’s largest and fastest-growing minority group.

Hispanic Marketing Do’s

HISPANIC SHOPPER MARKETING DO’S

1. Consider the context. Hispanics have been particularly hard-hit by today’s economic crisis so a message designed for the ‘good times’ will feel insincere.

2. Focus on the idea. Let your inspiration lead the media. Design around one great concept that extends equally and powerfully to several mediums instead of trying to match each medium with a laundry list of incomplete thoughts.

3. Shift ad spend from TV to in-store merchandising. The store shelf, where 70 percent of purchasing decisions are made, is the last frontier for swaying purchase behavior. An LCD screen on a shopping cart may be a more direct way to woo Hispanics than the ads on the big screens in their living rooms.

4. Engage the consumer to ‘feel’ the brand. Latinos gravitate to brands they sense feel right. For instance, Tecate leverages boxing as an effective way
to reach Hispanics and as a powerful metaphor for boldness, masculinity and character. Consumers, in turn, make the connection: bold brand = bold product = bold consumer.

Hispanic Marketing Don’t

HISPANIC SHOPPER MARKETING DON’T

1. Rely on a Power Point to know your customer. Data provides invaluable context, trends, and insights. But to get inside the head of “Juan Q. Consumer” spend time outside the office, meeting and talking with brand users. Data is not an effective way to read emotions. Tecate’s platform of
‘character’ came from consumer interaction not from data.

2. Underestimate consumers. With the growth of user-generated content, consumers are more involved than ever in shaping a brand — almost like co-brand managers. In this sense, the right consumer-designed message can boost a brand just as the wrong one can wreak havoc. One consumer designed image that was a take on the Tecate campaign became a minor hit on Facebook.

3. Get mired in cultural relevancy. Streaming papel picado in the store isn’t a shopper marketing strategy. Don’t try making your brand look ‘Hispanic,’ instead focus on delivering a relevant message. At Tecate, we’ve abandoned all obvious references to origin because it doesn’t serve the message we’re trying to convey.

4. Be a brand for all people. Tecate isn’t an Hispanic brand marketing to multicultural groups, our target is Mexican men and we speak from their perspective. Even people who don’t understand the campaign value its genuineness. Often, a pan-Hispanic message will lack bite and authenticity. More people may ‘get it,’ but fewer will care.

Let’s talk segmentation – Part I

Hispanic Market Segmentation:

The reasons behind the use of acculturation levels in Hispanic Marketing. Hispanic Market segments and projected size by Claudia Goffan, CEO of Target Latino.

Why levels of acculturation?

In the 1900’s European immigrants would force their children to forget about the customs of the “old world” and “just be” Americans – this was a process of assimilation

To acculturate means to incorporate or acquire a new culture without foregoing another one

Hispanics do not “assimilate”, they “acculturate”. They do not let go of customs and/or language

Facts about Hispanic Market Segmentation

Hispanic Market Segmentation

The three segments by Acculturation Levels

Non-Acculturated: Persons that only navigate within the Latino culture. Most of them have recently immigrated to the U.S. and prefer to speak Spanish

Acculturated: Persons born in the U.S. of Hispanic descent. They prefer to speak English and can navigate into the Latino culture

Semi-Acculturated: People that can navigate in both cultures.

What factors get them from one segment to the next?

Fully-Acculturated: Hispanics are proud of their culture and parents will tend to teach their U.S.-born children the customs of their ancestors

Non-Acculturated: Hispanics born outside of the U.S. can only navigate from non-acculturation to semi-acculturation. The speed at which this will take place depends on these three major factors:
–Time
–Education
–Socio economic status in country of origin

How fast will the market acculturate?

The speed at which this will take place depends on these three major factors:

Time: the longer they live in the US, the longer they are exposed to a new culture and are able to incorporate it into their everyday lives

Education: the higher their education level, the easier the understanding of another culture will be

Socio economic status in country of origin: the higher the socio economic status they enjoyed in their country of origin, the higher the likelihood that they have been exposed to other cultures, thus enabling a faster and smoother transition

Here are some examples of acculturation levels and speed:

My brother was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina -30 years old at the time-, highly educated -a lawyer-, seasoned international traveler and with 6 years of English studies from the London Cultural Institute under his belt. He was visiting me in Los Angeles.
On the second day of his visit, I arrived home to find him holding a box of sugar and laughing so hard he was in tears. He kept on saying, “soy un sudaca (I am so third world).” I didn’t understand what he was talking about at first, so I waited for him to calm down. When he did, he explained to me that he had ripped the top of the box open in order to reach the sugar at which time he realized that there was a pouring spout on its side.As you can see, it took him just a few minutes to “acculturate”, that is, to learn to navigate in the American culture (at least a little bit).

A friend of mine took a little longer to acculturate. She is also very well educated -a dentist- and a world traveler, but is older than my brother and understands very little English. Apparently she had bought a brand of laundry detergent at the supermarket to wash a sweatshirt I had given her. After washing it, she remarked that the sweatshirt was of low quality, because it had faded so badly. I was puzzled, but soon forgot about it.When she returned back to her country, she left the “detergent” with me. I immediately noticed that it wasn’t detergent at all, it was “bleach.” She had mistaken a product type for a brand. No wonder the blue sweatshirt had faded.In order to acculturate she had to be told about her mistake. You can bet she never did that again.

Latino banks spend more than a year teaching its underserved Hispanic customers how to use the ATM machines. The reason is that most of their customers have never used one. The bank is acculturating them into American society.

"A distinguishing characteristic of multi-ethnic Millennials is their heavily “second generation” orientation. Since they are more likely children of immigrants than immigrants themselves, the proportion of foreign born Millennials is relatively small when compared to Generation Xers and Baby Boomers."
– Havi Goffan
Characteristics of Hispanic Millennials

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Hispanic Marketing Blog is an initiative of Target Latino, a Hispanic Inbound Marketing consulting firm. Research, Social Media, Culture, SEO, Conversion & Pinterest Strategies.
The Hispanic Marketing blog's goal is to share information about the Latino Market or that may affect the Hispanic community and its marketers.